Moore: National Republicans Don’t Care About Fiscal Responsibility Either

“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” – H. L. Mencken

If we thought electing Republican majorities in both houses of congress and a GOP President would bring fiscal restraint…well, let’s think again.

President Donald Trump’s administration has added $1 trillion to the nation’s national debt in just 14 months into his Presidency. That was done thanks to the so-called “omnibus” bill that funds the federal government through October of this year.

These numbers are hard to fathom, so let me state it another way: it’s 1,000 billion. That’s staggering. And it’s hard to conceptualize.

It took President George W. Bush, hardly a model of fiscal restraint, over 5 years to add $1 trillion to the national debt. President Barack Obama did it in just 7 months, but that was during a recession. Trump is presiding over an economic boom. (Just ask him. He takes credit for it.)

Drowning in Red Ink

In total, our national debt is now $21 trillion. That means every man, woman, and American child owe $65,000 thanks to federal government borrowing. Do you have an unneeded $65,000 lying around? I didn’t think so.

Oh, but will anyone be happy to learn that our Congressman and women are patting themselves on the back? They view themselves as pillars of fiscal restraint, you see, because they recently passed a bill that forbids government funding for paintings of politicians and government officials.

Does this man care about the national debt? Doesn’t seem like it.

Of course the government shouldn’t be paying for this type of wasteful spending. Yet imagine the nerve of these congressional members for taking victory laps for savings minuscule amounts of cash, while lacking the fortitude to address real issues. It takes a special kind of cynicism to make pretend you’re a fiscal hawk for saving what doesn’t even amount to a drop in the bucket.

Chasing Pennies

That’s not chasing dimes to get dollars. That’s chasing pennies to get millions!

Everyone who is educated on the fiscal issue knows the truth. It’s entitlements that have America drowning in red ink. Social Security, Medicare, Obamacare, and Unemployment insurance make up roughly 70-percent of the federal budget. Those are massive sacred cows.

None of our politicians will dare reform any of these programs. Doing so would be akin to political suicide. Let’s not expect that type of courage out of any politician today.

Until we get our spending in line, America’s debt remains a ticking time bomb. And it won’t be fun when it finally explodes.

But can we really blame politicians for refusing to make tough decisions when Americans don’t want them?

Russell J. Moore is the publisher and founder of rirelevant.com. He’s been writing about Rhode Island since 2005. You should definitely follow him on twitter @russmoore713. If you want to send him email, you can send it to russmoore713@gmail.com